Chapter 461: Professor Yue Will Not Be a Pushover
“In short, you can’t even hold your own against a finance major like me. What makes you think you could contend with our mathematics major?” Tan Mo asked. “You’re welcome to ask around if I have ever attended a lesson of the professional course in our university’s Department of Mathematics. We would consider ourselves forfeited in this match if I ever did.”
Tan Mo put the chalk down, stretched her right foot about one-and-a-half steps forward, and stared at the Hua University team with her arms crossed.
Even the Beijing University crowd thought that her stance was so irritating that she needed a beating.
She must have watched a lot of Stephen Chow’s movies.
The Hua University team was dumbfounded.
Needless to say, they would not make calls to confirm if what Tan Mo said was true.
“So now what? How about you withdraw from the match? I’ll think of it as you defaulting,” Tan Mo suggested.
The Hua University group was rendered speechless.
“This is a match between the Department of Mathematics of both universities! So, what are you doing here? Breaking the rules? Who are you to ask us to default?” Peng Jiayou chided.
Tan Mo did not believe that the mathematics majors could be careful with their words.
Although they might have been meticulous with numbers, language was a whole new ballgame.
Tan Mo turned to ask the students in the classroom, “Did we set a rule saying the representative must be a mathematics major?”
“No.” The students in the classroom shook their heads.
Tan Mo turned to peer at the Hua University crowd and said, “Look, we have many witnesses here. I know you nerds who have a thing for numbers and won’t be careful when it comes to wordings. But that’s okay. When push comes to shove, I can transfer to the Department of Mathematics.”
“No way!” Three voices could be heard exclaimed in unison.
Those voices belonged to Mr. Zhu, Mr. Sun, and Ms. Hu.
The three of them dashed toward Tan Mo without hesitation and expressed their disagreement when they heard her speaking.
Mr. Sun turned back and shot Professor Yao a glance while keeping his guard up.
Professor Yao and every student in the classroom were stunned.
What the heck was going on?
“Even if you want to transfer to a different major, Chinese literature and history come first,” Mr. Sun stated. The mention of history was to form a coalition with Ms. Hu.
Mr. Zhu rebuked, “Am I transparent to you? In a desperate situation, Professor Yue will not be a pushover and stay put!”
Tan Mo, the Hua University team, Zhang Zhipeng, and all the students in the classroom were speechless upon witnessing the happening play out before their eyes.
The Beijing University crowd had funny expressions on their faces. Some of them forced a smile to lighten up the awkward atmosphere.
“Ahem!” Tan Mo turned around and gazed at the Hua University bunch. “So, are you all cool with it or not?”
At that, Peng Jiayou and Pang Xinlu turned their eyes toward Professor Jiao synchronously.
Tan Mo raised her eyebrows and scoffed, “What? Don’t tell me that you’re afraid of losing against me, a finance major, and go off with your tails between your legs?”
The Beijing University team was astonished after hearing that.
How did they not realize that Tan Mo was so good at stirring up people’s displeasure before?
Tan Mo wasn’t that irritating during the live stream of the Ancient Text Competition.
However, little did they know there was a vast difference between watching it live and through a screen.
Now that they were at the scene when it happened, they could feel the direct impact of the mood and emotion.
The Hua University group did not know what to say in response.
Peng Jiayou and Pang Xinlu couldn’t help but turn toward Guo Xiaohui from the Department of Chinese Literature and Qu Yuanqi from the Department of History.
Was that how Chinese literature majors and history majors felt back then?
Guo Xiaohui and Qu Yuanqi remained silent.
Professor Jiao did not know Tan Mo well, so he answered impatiently, “That’s enough. Stop wasting time. Go ahead and write it if you’re willing.”
Professor Jiao was not at the scene when Tan Mo single-handedly crushed Hua University’s Chinese literature and history majors.
Moreover, he paid little to no attention to the Department of Chinese Literature and the Department of History.
He had heard a few rumors about Tan Mo, but those weren’t enough to make him wary of her.
After Professor Jiao spoke, Mr. Sun, Ms. Hu, and Mr. Zhu folded their arms and glanced at him self-assuredly.
A thought came to their minds simultaneously.
‘You’ll regret it.’
The Hua University group and the students in the classroom were bewildered.
Was Beijing University full of characters like these?
Why were the instructors acting this way as well?
Tan Mo grabbed the chalk and started writing on the chalkboard.
She did not need to refer to her tablet since she made the question. Wasting no time, she finished writing it in one go.
“Alright, you may solve the problem now.” Tan Mo returned to the location where her team gathered.
At once, Du Zeyang and Chi Xuanzi took their tablets out from their backpacks and began solving the math problem.
They wanted to know who between their opponents and themselves would solve it first.
On the flip side, Peng Jiayou’s and Pang Xinlu’s expressions became gradually solemn as they scrutinized the question.
Song Mingqi pressed, “Could you please decide faster? Who will be up next?”
“Pang Xinlu, why don’t you have a try?” Peng Jiayou knew there was a high chance that he could not solve it.
At least during that moment, he did not have a clear idea. He was at his wit’s end.
Pang Xinlu’s face flushed upon hearing that.
She knew that Peng Jiayou only passed her the baton because he did not know how to solve it.
Nevertheless, the question was all Greek to her as well.
“I did it the last round. By rights, it should be your turn this time,” Pang Xinlu remarked.
She immediately heaved a sigh of relief upon recalling that she already had her entry during the previous round.
Du Zeyang and Chi Xuanzi cocked their brows as they contemplated. Without the pressure from the competition, they could finally concentrate on it while ignoring all the noise from their surroundings.
It was as if the surrounding noise had been canceled out. They were fully immersed in their realms of thinking. None of the sounds from outside could reach them.
Wei Haosong crossed his arms and urged, “Hey, hurry up, will you? Stop squandering our time away, okay?”
“Word!” Song Mingqi provoked, “You could’ve just surrendered and admited defeat.”
Wei Haosong added, “The students in this room still have to discuss their college and university applications. We don’t have all day to spend with you here.”
The Beijing University team had turned the table on their opponents.
Earlier on, the Hua University group was blustering like nobody’s business.
However, it was the Beijing University team’s turn to become assertive before their challengers.
Guo Xiaohui reprimanded, “Hey, aren’t you the ones who blabbered about not interrupting your opponents during the match? Why are you doing it now? Practicing double standards now, are we? Wow!”
“We said that there should be no disturbance of any kind during the rounds. If you don’t mind my question. Have you sent someone to solve the problem already?” Wei Haosong raised a corner of his lips into a smirk. He was a Chinese literature major as well. When it came to playing around with words, he was positive that he could put up a good fight.
“It seems like your team didn’t even select a representative yet.” Wei Haosong lifted his hand and fanned his side profile with it. “We’re losing patience here.”
Professor Jiao could not stand seeing his team being showered with humiliation any further.
Immediately after, he commanded in a deep voice, “Peng Jiayou! You’re next!”
Peng Jiayou was suffering in silence, yet he couldn’t bring himself to say that he couldn’t solve it.
If he admitted defeat without even trying, he would be a standing joke after he returned to his campus.
“Okay.” Peng Jiayou bit the bullet and trudged toward the chalkboard.
He took a new piece of chalk from the box.
The chalk that Tan Mo used earlier was placed on the chalk tray of the blackboard.
Peng Jiayou didn’t feel like using something Tan Mo had used.
Holding the chalk firmly in his hand, he raised his head to look at the question that Tan Mo wrote.
His mind only became messier as the clock continued its ticking. Staring blankly at the chalkboard, he was at a loss as to how to begin writing.